When Neil was 17, he went to university to study aeronautical engineering — the science used in the designing, building and testing of aircrafts. Clever! The Apollo 11 crew – Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Edwin E. “Buzz” Aldrin. Neil and Buzz landed on the moon using the ‘Lunar Module’, while Michael guided them from their command base. Klesius, Mike (May 20, 2009). "Neil Armstrong's X-15 flight over Pasadena". Smithsonian Air & Space Magazine . Retrieved January 25, 2023.

Armstrong was born and raised in Wapakoneta, Ohio. He entered Purdue University, studying aeronautical engineering, with the U.S. Navy paying his tuition under the Holloway Plan. He became a midshipman in 1949 and a naval aviator the following year. He saw action in the Korean War, flying the Grumman F9F Panther from the aircraft carrier USS Essex. After the war, he completed his bachelor's degree at Purdue and became a test pilot at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) High-Speed Flight Station at Edwards Air Force Base in California. He was the project pilot on Century Series fighters and flew the North American X-15 seven times. He was also a participant in the U.S. Air Force's Man in Space Soonest and X-20 Dyna-Soar human spaceflight programs.

This History primary resource assists with teaching the following History objectives from the National Curriculum: Neil Armstrong Explains His Famous Apollo 11 Moonwalk". Space.com. December 10, 2010. Archived from the original on August 2, 2013 . Retrieved October 14, 2013. About 19 minutes after Armstrong's first step, Aldrin joined him on the surface, becoming the second human to walk on the Moon. They began their tasks of investigating how easily a person could operate on the lunar surface. Armstrong unveiled a plaque commemorating the flight, and with Aldrin, planted the flag of the United States. Although Armstrong had wanted the flag to be draped on the flagpole, [152] it was decided to use a metal rod to hold it horizontally. [153] However, the rod did not fully extend, leaving the flag with a slightly wavy appearance, as if there were a breeze. [154] Shortly after the flag planting, President Richard Nixon spoke to them by telephone from his office. He spoke for about a minute, after which Armstrong responded for about thirty seconds. [155] In the Apollo 11 photographic record, there are only five images of Armstrong partly shown or reflected. The mission was planned to the minute, with the majority of photographic tasks performed by Armstrong with the single Hasselblad camera. [156] H. Maugh II, Thomas (August 9, 2012). "Neil Armstrong recovering well after cardiac bypass surgery". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on January 7, 2014 . Retrieved January 5, 2014.

I was born in 1972 into a world where humans had walked on the moon. My mum loved space, so we watched all the space shuttle launches on television together. I remember seeing grainy images of Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the moon’s surface. The incredible engineering accomplishment that Apollo 11 represented opened me to the potential that we could do anything. Tributes paid to Neil Armstrong, the humblest of American heroes". The Daily Telegraph. August 26, 2013. Archived from the original on January 10, 2022 . Retrieved July 8, 2018. Congressional Record (Bound Edition). (September 16–22, 1969.) Volume 115. Part 19. p.25611. US Government Printing Office.("Joint Meeting of the Two Houses of Congress to Receive the Apollo 11 Astronauts". September 16, 1969)Ford, Peter Shann (September 17, 2006). "Electronic Evidence and Physiological Reasoning Identifying the Elusive Vowel "a" in Neil Armstrong's Statement on First Stepping onto the Lunar Surface". collectSPACE. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007 . Retrieved August 28, 2007. a b "Ex-Lieutenant (junior grade) Neil Alden Armstrong, U.S. Naval Reserve, Transcript of Naval Service" (PDF). United States Navy. March 27, 1967. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 6, 2017 . Retrieved February 28, 2018. Stein, Ellin (October 15, 2018). "What's Fact and What's Fiction in First Man, the New Neil Armstrong Movie". Slate . Retrieved October 21, 2018.

Armstrong guarded the use of his name, image, and famous quote. When it was launched in 1981, MTV wanted to use his quote in its station identification, with the American flag replaced with the MTV logo, but he refused the use of his voice and likeness. [195] He sued Hallmark Cards in 1994, when they used his name, and a recording of the "one small step" quote, in a Christmas ornament without his permission. The lawsuit was settled out of court for an undisclosed sum, which Armstrong donated to Purdue. [196] [197] A Giant Leap For An Ulsterman". The Belfast Telegraph. August 28, 2012 . Retrieved November 14, 2018. Stamm, Amy (July 17, 2019). " "One Small Step for Man" or "a Man"?". National Air and Space Museum . Retrieved August 13, 2023.

Creech, Gray (July 15, 2004). "From the Mojave to the Moon: Neil Armstrong's Early NASA Years". NASA. Archived from the original on June 30, 2011 . Retrieved May 17, 2011.

Neil Armstrong was the first human to walk on the moon during the NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) Apollo 11 mission on 20th July 1969. He completed the mission alongside co-pilots Edwin E. “Buzz” Aldrin and Michael Collins. I think we're going to the moon because it's in the nature of the human being to face challenges. It's by the nature of his deep inner soul. We're required to do these things just as salmon swim upstream. In a 2010 Space Foundation survey, Armstrong was ranked as the number-one most popular space hero; [278] and in 2013, Flying magazine ranked him number one on its list of 51 Heroes of Aviation. [279] The press often asked Armstrong for his views on the future of spaceflight. In 2005, he said that a human mission to Mars would be easier than the lunar challenge of the 1960s. In 2010, he made a rare public criticism of the decision to cancel the Ares I launch vehicle and the Constellation Moon landing program. [280] In an open letter also signed by fellow Apollo veterans Lovell and Cernan, he said, "For The United States, the leading space faring nation for nearly half a century, to be without carriage to low Earth orbit and with no human exploration capability to go beyond Earth orbit for an indeterminate time into the future, destines our nation to become one of second or even third rate stature". [281] On November 18, 2010, aged 80, he said in a speech during the Science & Technology Summit in the Hague, Netherlands, that he would offer his services as commander on a mission to Mars if he were asked. [282] Marking the forty-fifth anniversary of Apollo 11’s moon landing, First Man by James Hansen offers the only authorized glimpse into the life of America’s most famous astronaut, Neil Armstrong—the man whose “one small step” changed history.Buzz Aldrin called Armstrong "a true American hero and the best pilot I ever knew", and said he was disappointed that they would not be able to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Moon landing together in 2019. [228] [229] Michael Collins said, "He was the best, and I will miss him terribly." [230] [231] NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said, "As long as there are history books, Neil Armstrong will be included in them, remembered for taking humankind's first small step on a world beyond our own". [232] [233] External videos Neil Alden Armstrong (August 5, 1930– August 25, 2012) was an American astronaut and aeronautical engineer who in 1969 became the first person to walk on the Moon. He was also a naval aviator, test pilot, and university professor. Neil Armstrong's Last Name Posed a Problem in his Ancestral Scottish Hometown". thevintagenews. April 15, 2019 . Retrieved September 4, 2022. This History primary resource assists with teaching the following Social Studies Second level objective from the Scottish Curriculum for Excellence: